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Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) Ruled Unconstitutional

National Small Bus. United v. Yellen, No. 5:22-cv-1448-LCB (N.D. Ala. Mar. 1, 2024) On Friday, March 1, 2024, in National Small Bus. United v. Yellen, Judge Liles C. Burke of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ruled via memorandum...

Economic and Legal Considerations for Short-Term Rental Businesses

Platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO have disrupted an industry once dominated by hotels and resorts, allowing individuals to open their homes and residential properties to travelers. The boom in short-term rentals has created new opportunities for investors who want to...

Changing Your Business’ Legal Structure

Over time, your business can undergo significant changes. What may have started as a humble, one-person operation can grow into a more complex company, with multiple owners, employees, an evolving mission statement, and increasing risks. As the scope and goals of your...

What Is Due Diligence When Buying a Business?

Due diligence is the process of obtaining and verifying information about a company or person in preparation for a business transaction, such as an acquisition, merger, or potential new business partner. Generally, due diligence provides information about the company...

The Annual Meeting: What Every Corporation (and Many Limited Liability Companies) Should Know

All registered corporations are required by law to hold an annual meeting. Limited liability companies (LLCs), although not subject to the same statutory requirement, may hold regular meetings in accordance with their governing documents. What Is the Purpose of a...

Advisors Panic over Corporate Transparency Act (CTA)’s Orwellian Reporting Requirements

Did you ever put off studying for a final, until the night before the final? That’s pretty much how the planning community is feeling about the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), which will go into effect January 1, 2024. Congress passed the devilish law several...

SECURE 2.0 Act, You, and Your IRA Beneficiaries

On December 29, 2022, President Biden signed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement 2.0 Act (SECURE 2.0 Act). The previous SECURE Act in 2020 made several changes to retirement planning: It increased the required beginning date (RBD) for required...

How to Protect Your Business from Lawsuits

Small business owners are no strangers to risk management. Owning and operating a small business entails a certain level of unpredictability. Despite your best efforts to stay on top of supply chains, marketing, sales, competitors, employees, and cash flow, unexpected...

Business Trusts 101: What Entrepreneurs Should Know about Using a Business Trust

Trusts are usually associated with estate planning, but trusts can also apply to business operations. As a small business owner, you can hold the business in a trust instead of using a business entity such as a limited liability company (LLC) or corporation. Business...

Prodigal Son Breaks News To Dad That He Spent His Entire Inheritance On Gender Studies Degree

I stole the title of this post from a great Babylon Bee article that just came out. For those who don’t know, Babylon Bee is satire. Strangely, their satirical articles often do come true. And this particular title hews closely enough to family settings often...

The BDOT Option for Trusted Beneficiaries

The Beneficiary Deemed Owner Trust (BDOT) is one of several options to consider for “trusted beneficiaries” (pun intended) to whom you are open to giving some access to trust income and/or principal. (Another option might be the Beneficiary Controlled...

SECURE Act: How It Will Affect You and the Beneficiaries of Your Retirement Accounts

  Dear Clients and Students, On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act). The SECURE Act, which is effective January 1, 2020. The Act is the most impactful legislation affecting...

California’s new Uniform Trust Decanting Act brings Opportunity, Risk

California recently (9/14/18) joined a few other states that have enacted the Uniform Trust Decanting Act. A lot of states have decanting statutes, several dozen in fact, but they vary greatly and this uniform act is more restrictive than those in some of the more...

One in three Americans who get an inheritance blow it – MarketWatch

  “Great wealth transfer” has joined “silver tsunami” in the lexicon of aging America. It refers to the wave of wealth, estimated to be in the trillions, which will flow from the oldest generation in the coming decades. Yet evidence suggests that many Americans...

Introducing the IT-LIT: Irrevocable Terror Life Insurance Trust

Are 72 virgins really enough? What if they turn out to be 72 Virginians? If you are bound and determined to blow yourself into smithereens or commit some other irrevocable act of terror, at least buy some life insurance so your (surviving) descendants can live like...

Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds Dynastic Deaths Give Offspring Legacies and Millions to Inherit Overnight

  Luck all around, despite the bad planning. Carrie had formal next of kin, daughter Billie Lourd, who inherits the house, the money and presumably the French bulldog even if the outspoken and occasionally erratic actress forgot to leave a valid will behind....

Six Things Family-Owned Firms Should Know About Succession Planning

  Among the chief goals of succession planning is providing continuity of management and minimizing the tax costs of transferring property interests to new generations.Source: Six Things Family-Owned Firms Should Know About Succession Planning

Twelve “Star Wars” Lessons For Becoming A Financial Planning Jedi

  A truly nerdy advisor with too much time on his hands put this together. Why nothing on Star Trek TOS? In preparation for “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” here are 15 lessons from the film series to help you be a financial planning Jedi. Source:...

World’s oldest man Mbah Goto celebrates what he claims to be his 146th birthday

  He has outlived all 10 of his siblings as well as his four wives, the last of whom died in 1988. All of his children have also died, and now he is survived by his grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. Source: World’s oldest...

#AssetProtection: IRS Issues New Rev Proc 2016-49 Supporting Use of Clayton Election

Good news! The IRS just issued, moments ago, a new Revenue Procedure 2016-49, modifying Rev Proc 2001-48, removing a possible grey area in the use of the so-called Clayton election for flexible and comprehensive post-mortem (i.e., portability and reverse QTIP) tax...